Load interrupter housed fuse cutouts



April 11, 1961 G. R. MCCLOUD LOAD INTERRUPTER'HOUSED FUSE CUTOUTS 4 Sheets-Sheet l FiledFeb. 3, 1959 INVENTOR. GEORGE R4 M CLOUD FIG. IA

April 11, 1961 G. R. MGCLOUD 2,979,584

LOAD INTERRUPTER HOUSED FUSE CUTOUTS Filed Feb. 3, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

GEORGE R. M CLOUD ATTO RNEY April 11, 1961 5. R. MOCLOUD 2,979,584

LOAD INTERRUPTER HOUSED FUSE CUTOUTS Filed Feb. 3, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. GEORGE R M CLOUD BY f 5% ATTORNEY concepts;

2,979,584 LOAD INTERRUPTER HOUSED FUSE CUTOUTS' George R. McCloud, South Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to M'cGraw-Edisou Company, Milwaukee, Wis.', a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 3, 1959, Ser. No. 790,853 3 Claims. c1-. 200-"-114 This invention relates to new and'useful improvements in load interrupter fuse cutouts and more particularly fuse, cutouts of the housed type wherein provision is made for mechanically breaking the fusible elements subject to load current in an electric circuit.

More particularly, the instant application relates to an improvement to the housed fuse cutoutand mechani cal link break mechanism associated therewith as set forth in my Patent No. 2,820,868 which issued on Janus ary 21, 1958. I

The principal object of this invention is to provide ai fuse cutout having a fuse link which will interrupt the circuit under overload conditions and including manu ally operable means for breaking the fuse link when it is idesirable to interrupt the circuit under normal loads thusdispensing with the use of a circuit breaker in series with the fuse cutout and permitting the operation of the fuse cutoutto open circuit position without producing injurious arcing between the fuse contacts together with 1 a sirnplified latching mechanism which is easy to set up by a lineman wearing linemens heavy gloves and the like. a a I i f' A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved re-cocking mechanism which is accessible from the exterior of the door of the cutout allowing a simplified re-cocking of the load break mechanism.

a The novel features that are characteristic of the inventionare setforth with particularityin the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its o'rganiz ation and method of operation together, with additional objects and advantages thereof will be understood by the following description of specific [embodiatent O M 2,820,868aforementioned. For purposes of this case sutlice it to saythat the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed includes an insulating housing H having an open front and bottom with a lever comprising a door D of insulating'material for closing the open front. The housing H is formed with a top portion 15, back pore tion 16, andside walls 17 and 18 (only'one side wall being shown). Some designs may prefer to leave the top open (not shown) for double venting purposes. Hanger means 19is disposed centrally of and spaced from the top'a'nd bottom of the housing extendingoutwardly from the rear wall 16 to conveniently mount the cutout ma cross-arm or the like.

Mounted on the interior of the housing and on back walls 16' are spaced upper and lower terminals means 22 and 23 respectively. The upper terminal means 22 include contact means24-here shown comprising U-shaped contacts 25. An electrical conductor 20 is shown sernidiagrammatically attached to the upper terminal means 22. The lower terminal means 23 has contact means 27 here shown in the form of a U-shaped contact blade 28 which engages a contact sleeve 32 which will be more fully. described hereinafter. The lower terminal means 23 isadap t ed to fiXedly and electrically engage an electrical conductor 21 here shown semidiagrammatically.

A closure or door-assembly 30 comprises the link break mechanism 4 1', the latching mechanism'50, the door D, contact sleeve32, and the fuse tube 34. All of these portions of the closure assembly 39 are removable as a unit from the'cutout by virtue of pivotal mounting of the entire closure assembly 30 about pins (not shown) formed in the side walls of the housing which engage conventional t'runnions which are formed at thebo'ttom of contact" sleeve 32 in accordance with standard procedure; I i I As s h'own the fuse tube 34 is adapted to electrically bridge the upper and lower terminals 22 and 23 by means ofa fuse' link 37 which is disposedjinteriorly of the fuse tube andhaving a metallic head thereon which engages cap35at its upper end and is fixedly and firmly rnou'nted'tothe outside of the contact sleeve 32 by means of. a thumb screw 38. The electrical connection forthe ments whenread in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: L

,Fig. 1 is a side view, a portion at wagers nastier; showing a housed fuse cutout embodying the inventive Fig. 1-a is a perspective view showing the cementstion of a link break member used in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 through 5 Figs Z through 5 are semidiagrainmatic views showing the;sequential actuation and relative position of the parts duringoperationof the link break means and openof the entire door assembly to remove same from the and; view, agp rusn at which is in section g an alte ative embodiment of. closure assembly employing similar inventive concepts;

7sthrou' h inclusive are semidiagrammatic views similar to Figs, 2'through 5 showing'the sequential operation rrhe'aneniaive amendment saowa in Pig. 6;

a de features of the cutout maybe found inmy Patent-No;

cutout beingfthrough the terminal means 22 to upper contact 25, fuse tube head and cap 35 through the fuse link-37 to thumb screw 38, through the contact sleeve 32 to lower cohtactsi28'and ending with lower terminal 231 fMeans 41 ror' breaking thelink 37 is'provided by an assembly comprising a link break member 42 whichis rectangular i'n" shape'and mounted in suitable slots 49 formed in the side Walls of the contact sleeve 32. As shown in perspective view l-a link break member 42 is formed with transverse extending pins 44 and extending shoulders 42-11, the latter being adapted to engage and slide in the side walls of slots 49. It will be further noted'that the slot '49 is. parallel with the axis of fuse tube34 and serves to guide link break member up and down in a vertical plane as shall become apparent hereinafterk r Means forrnoving link break member 42 downwardly to impinge upon the tail 37 of the rupturable link is provided by alever member 45 which is rotatably mounted on a pivot pin 47 which is mounted on the contact sleeve 32." V As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, theleve'rv member, 45 is formed with an elongated slot 48 which isad'apted to fit over and engage one of the extending pins or ears 44 of the link break member. Lever meritber' 45 is further formed with a square aperture at the margin l lowrsurface which engages a cocking mecha nism 'afs'shallf be later described.

ibe 'seen that movement of lever arm 45 in a counter-clockwisedirection'will cause slot 48 which is its stroke.

curvilinear in shape to move link break member 42 downwardly in the guide slots 49 so that the end surface 43 of the link break member will engage the fuse link causing the weakest portion thereof to rupture.-

The cocking and load imparting mechanism for moving link break member 45 in a counter-clockwise direc tion is denominated by the reference numeral 50. As shown, the cocking mechanism comprises an elongated member 51 which is pivotally mounted at 52 and the lower end of which is formed with a projecting portion 53 which extends through a suitable aperture formed in the lower end of offset back wall tab 32a of the contact sleeve 32 for coaction with lever member 45. Extending portion 53 is preferably square in cross-section so as to operatively fit within aperture 46 in levermember'45.

The upper end of memberSl is formedwith an'olfset end portion 54 which is adapted to engage a pivotal latch release from engagement with aperture 46 in lever mem' ber 45 and simultaneously causes upper end of the latching member 54 to engage the inboard tooth 57 of latching member 55 to set up the parts back to their original position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The cutout is now ready, after insertion of the closure assembly back within the housing, for normal operation and when desired the link 37 may again be broken to interrupt the circuit without the use of a circuit breaker or the like.

A second embodiment shown in Figs. 6 to 11 inclusive has a different link break load impartingassembly and a slightly different arrangement of parts for the recockmember 55 which pivots about point 56 and has a hooklike face 58 which engages the side walls defining aperture 59 formed in the upper portion of the offset back wall tab 32a of the contact sleeve 32. It will be noted that the lever 51 is biased in a clockwise direction by virtue of a leaf spring 36 which is disposed in the lower half of member 51 as viewed in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

The door D is formed with a pull ring 39 at its upper outer extremity and at its lower extremity is formed with a U-shaped metallic portion 30b having inwardly directed metallic projections 30a which are pivotally mounted relative to the contact sleeve about pivot pin 47. Thus, it is seen thatthe contact sleeve 32 and the door D are relatively movable one to the other, as best illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

In operation, assume the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings,'i.e.-, the fuse link is held tightly in circuit completing'position bythumb screw 38. Latch member 55 is disengaged from latching aperture walls 59 allowing free opening movement of the door D relative to the contact sleeve 32. Thus, a

the latter engages aperture 46 of lever member 45, under the influence of spring 36 while the contact sleeve 32 and tube 34 remain in the vertical position shown. This is the setting up or cocking of the mechanism forthe link break operation which follows on-the upward movement of the door as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. 1 As the door D is moved upwardly, lever member 4 pivots about pivot point 47 causing cam surface of slot 48 to force link break member 42 downwardly in slots 49 so that bottom edge surface 43 impinges upon the link 37 causing the latter to rupture at the fusible section. Leaf spring 36 retains the dog projection 53 in engagement with aperture 46 of lever member 45 during this operation. The aforementioned movement of member 51 about pivot 52 causes the upper end 54 to engage latching hook 55 to move face 58 so as to be set up to engage surface 59 when the door D reaches the top of The closure assembly 30 is now in positiontobe removed from the cutout about the trunnions 31 asshown schematically in Fig. 5 of the drawings After the door assembly 30 has been removed from the housing, the lineman normally inserts a newfuse link withinthe fuse tube 34 in preparation of replacing the Idoorassembly 30 back within the cutout. Heretofore, it has been ex, ceedingly difficult to get the parts of the closure assembly back into the relationship shown in Figs. 1 andlof the drawings.

In the instant device this is accomplished relatively simply by having a lineman engage insulated push button 60 which extends through the exterior wall of the door D.- 'By pushing the button 60 inwardly,levermember'51 is rotated in a clockwis edirection causing dog 53 to ing lever and latching means Substantially similar parts have retained identical reference numerals to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 through 5. More particularly, the link break means 41' shown in Fig. 6 comprises a generally cylindrical member 42' having a vertical rack portion 64 in vertical alignment with the axis of the fuse tube 34. A pinion 63 is rotatable about pivot pin 47 so as to cause the rack link break member 42' to move downwardly such that the lower portion 43' engages the link 37 causing the latter to rupture. A square aperture 46 in member 42 is engageable with dog 53 on lever 51' as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings.

Rather than the apertures in the back wall of the contact sleeve 32, the present embodiment hasa transverse cross pin 67 formed in the side walls of the contact sleeve which is engageable by hook portion 58' of latching member for latching the door D to the contact sleeve and fuse tube 34, for removal of the closure assembly 30 from the cutout. A torsion spring 65 biases the lever member 51' in a clockwise direction thereby dispensing with a spring for the push button It is thus seen that the spring serves the dual function of biasing the lever member 51 and push button 60 rather than relying on the two springs 36 and 6'2 shown in Fig. 1. This is shown in enlarged fragmentary sectional view, Fig. 11.

The operation of the second embodiment is substantially identical to that of the first embodiment, the recocking operation by.pushing button 60' inwardly is identical to that of the first embodiment. g

It is thus seen that in both embodiments an exceedingly simple method of accomplishing re-cocking is provided for setting up the link break mechanism. A lineman, wearingheavy linemans gloves may easily re-cock the device when inserting a new fuse link and the, device may be easily and quicklyjreturned to operative position in the cutout. t Y

Although specific embodiments in the invention have been shown anddescribed, it is with full awareness that many modifications thereof are possible. The invention,

9 therefore, is not to be restricted except as insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claims. 7 H

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. In a fuse cutout, in combination, a fuse tube including a pair of relatively spaced terminal contacts exteriorly thereof, a fuse link in said tube interconnecting said contacts and link break mechanism carried by said tube, said mechanism comprising a rack slidable in parallelism with the axis .of said tube, a rotatable segmental pinion engaging said rack and having an arcuate portion terminating in a slot, a lever movable about the. axisof said pinion in a plane substantially paralleling the axis of said tube, a pinion latch carried bysaid lever and normally engaging said arcuate portion of said pinion when said lever is in one position in said plane and engageable in said slot when said lever is in a second position insaid plane, a second latch carried by said lever and engageable with said tube, and normallyvdisengaged therefrom when said leveris in said one position, a biasing 'control lever carried by'the first mentioned leverland interconnecting said pinion latch and second latch, a biasing spring engaging said control lever for actuation of said pinion latch and second latch to latching position simultaneously, and a manually engageable re-cocking button engageable with said lever and operative, when engaged, to overcome the biasing spring to return the parts to normal position.

2. in a fuse cutout having a fuse tube including a pair of relatively spaced terminal contacts and a fuse link in said tube electrically connecting said contacts, the combination of link break means including a first member engaging a portion of said fuse link and movable generally parallel to the axis of said tube to rupture said fuse link and a rotatable member engaging said first member and including latch receiving means, an operating lever movable about the axis of said rotatable member, a control lever carried by said operating lever and including latch means, a spring engaging said control lever and biasing said latch means toward engagement with said latch receiving means, whereby when said latch means engages said latch receiving means said first member is mechanically coupled to and moves in response to movement of said operating lever, and a manually operable re cocking button engageable with said control lever and operative to overcome said biasing spring and disengage said latch from said latch receiving means.

3. In a fuse cutout having a fuse tube including a pair of relatively spaced contacts and a fuse link within said tube electrically connecting said contacts, the combination of link break means engaging a portion of said fuse link for rupturing said fuse link, actuating means for said link break means including a pivotally mounted lever and connecting means for mechanically coupling said actuating lever and said link break means, and manually operable re-cocking means engageable with said connecting means and operative to uncouple said link break means and said lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Meyer June 2, 1942 McCloud Ian. 21, 1958 

